uPanama City Beach Officials Vote To Ban Boozing On Beaches During Spring Breakr

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  While there is a distinct pleasure in burying your toes in warm sand while sipping on a cold alcoholic beverage, city officials in Panama City Beach, FL have decided to crack down on the booze-fueled beach shenanigans commonly exhibited by college students on spring break, after a spate of negative publicity this year. To put it plainly: No more drinking on the beach in the month of March.

  The sands of Panama City Beach’s beaches will be a bit quieter next year, as the city’s Beach Council voted unanimously yesterday to ban alcohol on its sandy stretches next spring break, reports the Panama City Herald.

  Other ordinances were also approved in a first reading (that still must become final) in an attempt to tamp down the rowdiness of the season, including rules that would close bars at 2. a.m., ban open containers of alcoholic beverages in commercial parking lots unless under the surveillance and control of the business, and outlaw parking on right of way after dark.

  The council also voted to designated the entire month of March as officially Spring Break as it applies to those laws.

  Local officials are seeking to clean up the city’s image after this most recent spring break, when seven partiers were shot and injured at a party, and an alleged sexual assault on the beach behind a popular nightclub — in broad daylight — was reportedly caught on camera and reported widely in the media.

  For the drinking ordinance to become law, it will have have to be brought back for two council votes.

  Spring break can still be fun though, kids! Especially if you have The Lion King to wake you from your malt-liquor-beverage-induced slumber every morning at the hotel.

  PCB agrees to ban drinking on beach during Spring Break [Panama City Herald]

  
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by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist